Day 6 Prelims Live Recap

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

DAY 6 PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

Welcome to day 6 of the Paris Olympics swimming schedule. We have another light prelims session this morning, which is scheduled to last a little over an hour. This morning will feature heats of the women’s 200 back, men’s 50 free, men’s 200 IM, and women’s 4×200 free relay.

DAY 6 PRELIMS SCHEDULE

Women’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims
Men’s 50 Freestyle – Prelims
Men’s 200 IM – Prelims
Women’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay – Prelims

The women’s 200 back will mark the 2nd showdown between Australian Kaylee McKeown and American Regan Smith. McKeown won the first round, having earned the gold medal in the women’s 100 back 2 days ago, while Smith won silver. McKeown enters the 200 back as the World Record holder this morning, having gone a 2:03.14 last March. Smith previously held the World Record from her breakout World Championships back in 2019. The other American in the field, Phoebe Bacon, should be in the mix as well. It will all start the prelims heats this morning.

The 50 free is, naturally, the most popular event, so we will have 10 heats this morning. Australian Cam McEvoy enters as the top seed, and he’ll be racing next to American Caeleb Dressel, the Olympic Record holder and defending champion in the event. McEvoy has made a career resurgence in the last couple years after making a dramatic shift to his training, which he has publicly chronicled and been very open about. Dressel is swimming a much lighter schedule than we’re used to seeing out of him at this meet, so he should be fresh for this race as well. Britain’s Ben Proud is always one to watch in the splash-and-dash as well. He’s seeded 2nd coming into this morning.

Defending Olympic champion Wang Shun of China comes in as the top seed in the men’s 200 IM this morning. Wang won the event in Tokyo with a 1:55.00. We have to look at France’s Leon Marchand as the favorite coming into this event, however. Marchand is on a tear right now, having won gold in all 3 of his individual events to this point, including winning both the 200 fly and 200 breast last night in a double. As we get towards the end of his schedule, it really feels as though nothing is going to stop Marchand from getting his hand on the wall first.